FROM THE CHAIRPERSONDAVID CLARK

FROM THE CEOKAYE COLLARD

This past year has been one of consolidation for Able Australia. We saw a major shift towards the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in the disability sector and the pricing challenges and changing funding models that have accompanied this. Our strength towards individualised focus has allowed us to remain efficient in our service delivery and at the same time, fiscally responsible. We have further consolidated our IT systems and the full benefits are now being realised. We have access to reliable and accurate information through the integration of our client management system Carelink+ and TechnologyOne. Automated login and approval for our employees, as well as seamless integration between our two systems enables us to make critically informed operational and fiscal decisions. We also now have implemented a business intelligence system (Calumo), which reports over our business information platform.

Financially, FY17 was a challenging year, with a number of our service areas transitioning to the NDIS. Due to the significant nature of these changes, we prepared a revised budget five months into the financial year. It is with pleasure that I can say we achieved our target and an overall operating surplus of $1,449,232. However, this result was largely achieved as a result of a significant bequest. Operationally, we ran at a deficit with operational shortfalls in Deafblind Services (DBS), Queensland, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Changes to our service delivery have been implemented without impacting client needs, which will see us improve our operational performance in FY18.

We also made significant inroads into developing our risk management framework. Able Australia is committed to making a lasting, positive impact on the lives of the people we support. To do this we needed to understand the risks present in our day-to-day activities and as far as we can, anticipate and respond to dangers and opportunities into the more distant future. We now are able to take all reasonable steps to protect our people, our reputation, our financial strength and all the other assets that make us a vibrant organisation focused on making a positive impact on society. We did this in part, through good risk management as laid out in our Risk Management Framework (RMF). The RMF provides guidance on how and when to identify, assess and manage risk prudently, using a consistent language and structure, and within the risk appetite set by the Board.

The rollout of the NDIS continued in Victoria for one of our day services and one accommodation facility. In Tasmania, 12 accommodation facilities and day services transitioned. This is on top of our ACT operations having fully transitioned in FY16.

A number of our deafblind services clients also successfully transitioned to the NDIS and similar to our day service clients, the outcome has been beneficial for our clients. We are also now a registered Transport Accident Commission (TAC) provider and this is an area we will be putting more focus into throughout the next financial year.

Fundraising continued to play an important role in our financial performance, with income up 14 per cent from FY16. Enhancing brand awareness has been a key focus and part of our ongoing strategy.

We conducted a donor survey to ensure we understand our donors’ needs and requests and an action plan on the feedback is to be implemented.

The Deafblind Awareness Week media campaign yielded plenty of interest with campaign spokesperson Olympic Gold Medallist Duncan Armstrong again lending his support to raise awareness of Deafblind within our communities.

I would like to congratulate our CEO Kaye Collard and her National Management Team on completing another successful year.

The changes being experienced as a result of the transition to the NDIS are challenging, particularly around timing of transitions, however, the management team is charting a course forward that will establish Able Australia as a sought-after provider in the NDIS environment.

A thank you to my fellow board members, who all volunteer so much of their time to support the organisation from a governance perspective. I will also take this opportunity to welcome our newest board member, Meg Downie.

Finally, on behalf of the Board I wish to express my sincere thanks to all of Able Australia’s dedicated employees, volunteers and supporters.

We are very fortunate to have so many talented and committed people who are making a tremendous difference to many people’s lives on a daily basis. Thank you for your considerable and extremely valued contribution.

The 2016/17 year has been one of constant activity as we continue to redefine our services and business practices for the full roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

In addition, it has been a time of reflection and celebration, with Able Australia’s 50th anniversary in February. What began as a parental self-help group for support and to advance the opportunities for children with deafblindness has grown into an organisation spanning six states/territories and impacting the lives of more than 4,000 clients in disability services, deafblindness and community services and transport. The ethos of Able Australia has remained constant throughout the years – supporting our clients to achieve social inclusion without barriers.

The NDIS is the largest reform in Australian history within the disability sector. We have built a strong foundation upon which to embrace the opportunities and meet the challenges of a changing disability services landscape.

During the year, we continued to further our role as a valued voice within the sector, advocating for the interests of people living with disability. Able Australia was appointed as the new Secretariat for Deafblind International (DbI), placing us at the decision-making table of the world’s peak body for deafblindness issues. We were successful in our bid to host the next Deafblind International (DbI) Conference in 2019, which is a significant achievement and reflects our important role in the deafblind community.

Shared supported accommodation (SSA) and supported independent living (SIL) are a large component of Able Australia’s business and are run out of our residential homes. This year, we ensured all residential homes were further improved in terms of liveability. An audit of all our properties has been conducted and a plan to make further improvements based on these requirements is underway.

In August, we held the first ‘Youth with Disability: The Future is Yours’ program. This innovative program, solely funded by Able Australia, is designed to assist senior grade students with a disability transition into life beyond high school. Topics include skills development, boosting self-confidence, creating a sense of belief and belonging, fostering independence and reaching personal goals. The program has successfully been operating within the West Moreton Region in Queensland and has received accolades from both the NDIA and the Department of Education (Queensland).

The world premiere of Imagined Touch - a deafblind live art project featuring two talented artists supported by Able Australia sold out the Arts House in North Melbourne. Later in the year the production received a Green Room Award for Innovation in Experiential Performance.

Able Australia has proudly supported this venture for the last four years and it is very pleasing to see how the challenges of living with deafblindness have been conveyed to the wider community.

We have continued our positive and proactive partnership with Melbourne Polytechnic to give the Auslan students opportunities to interact with deafblind clients in various settings.

We focussed on developing stronger links with key state stakeholders and developing partnerships with specific organisations. The Let’s Connect program has enabled each state to establish a self-advocacy program to liaise with their local council as well as with the capital city councils for deafblind friendly access.

We established a six-monthly Victorian deafblind focus group with selected deafblind clients and family members to meet with the CEO and a board member from Able Australia.

Over the last year, Able Australia has forged a mutually beneficial partnership with the Event Management students at Holmesglen TAFE. We are fortunate to be involved with this program, which provides fundraising opportunities and increases brand awareness of Able Australia within the community.

Immediately following last year’s AGM and annual celebration in Melbourne we decided to take the event on a road trip around the country for our clients, their families and staff to be informed of what is happening at Able Australia. These roadshow events were very well attended and received by those who attended.

In November, we invested in two major surveys. We asked our clients and families their views about our existing services and how we can improve and what their expectations are for the future. We surveyed our employees to understand their perspective about our service delivery performance for clients, together with their training requirements, career aspirations and desired working conditions.

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